International Agency

About Acme Studios' International Agency Programme

Created and managed by Acme Studios since 1987, the International Agency Programme enables international governments and cultural agencies to offer artists major residencies in London.

Working with six agencies from Australia, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland, Acme acts as a strategic advisor and representative, negotiating property and services, as well as providing social and cultural support for visiting artists.

All the residencies are based in East London, an area which has become the centre for visual artists' studios and galleries, attracting people from all over the world.

Through this programme international governments and cultural agencies can offer artists a working period abroad, helping not just the individual, but also the organisation in implementing their national cultural policies within a London context.

Acme is currently working in partnership with the following organisations to promote and develop programmes for visiting artists who want to work and live in London:

• Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr, Switzerland (established 1987)
  
• Australia Council for the Arts (established 1992)
• Hessische Kulturstiftung, Germany (established 1995)
• IASPIS, Sweden (established 1996)
• Aargauer Kuratorium, Switzerland (established 1999)
• The Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK), Switzerland (established 2004)

Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr, Switzerland

The Landis & Gyr Foundation in Switzerland established a London-based residency programme with the help of Acme Studios in 1987. The programme was ambitious, commencing with the gradual purchase of four houses in Smithy Street, Stepney, E1 and culminated in 1995, with Acme as project managers, in the development of a new-build studio complex on an adjacent site.

Acme acts as the managing agent on behalf of the foundation, dealing with on-going maintenance in the work/live houses, administration and providing support for the artists during their stay in London.

The partnership between Landis & Gyr and Acme has been a highly productive one: over two hundred visual artists, curators, writers, musicians and composers have benefited from the residency programme, each staying for periods of between three months and one year.

Residencies provide free living accommodation and a stipend towards living costs. Supported by the Swiss Embassy, the programme has successfully provided the opportunity for selected artists to develop their work and experience the culture of a major capital city renowned for its diversity.

The programme is open to individuals from Switzerland. All applications are made directly to Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr, who select and award the residencies on an annual basis.

For further information and application details:
Hanna Widrig/Evelyne Lohme Zuger Kulturstiftung, Landis & Gyr Postfach 4858
Switzerland
T: 0041 41 724 23 12
E: hanna.widrig@kulturstiftung-lg.ch
www.kulturstiftung-lg.ch

Awardees since 1999 (in chronological order):
Daniel Cartier, E.Y Meyer, Jurg Altherr, Ursula First, Andrea Scartazzini, Isabel Teuwsen, Kristen Schnider, Gillian White, Rut Himmelsbach, Isabel Truniger, Markus Werner, Anselm Stalder, Frederic Moser, Franz Nager, Katherina Rosenberger, Clo Bezzola, Pia Fries, Philippe Schwinger, Prof. Dr. Oskar Bütschmann, Peter Müller, Caroline Kessner, Marianne Eigenheer, Peter Stamm, Rico Gubler, Dominik Brun, Claudio Moser, Jules Spinatsch, Martin Derungs, Patrick Weidmann, Victorine Müller, Birgit Kempner, Emanuelle Delle Piane, Andreas Meier, Beat Stutzer, Dominique Laemmli, Heinrich Lüber, Dominique Girod, Katrin Freisager, Andre Bideau, Emanuelle Delle Piane, Lukas Bürfuss, Sabine Herbake, Kathrin Eckert, Dr. Beatrice Von Matt, Tim Krohn, Creszentia Dünsser, Monica Studer & Christophe Van Den Burg, Philippe Kocher, Stephania Beretta, Dagmar Walser, Raphael Urweider, Anna Huber, Christoph Draeger, Yves Netzhammer, Teresa Hubbard, Alexander Birchler, Oliver Waespi.

Australia Council for the Arts

In partnership with Acme Studios, the Australia Council for the Arts began operating a residency for Australian-based visual artists in 1992. Managed by Acme on behalf of the Australia Council for the Arts, the residency runs alongside Acme's own programme at The Sugar House, Stratford, E15, which provides work/live spaces for UK-based artists. Visiting artists taking up the Australia Council for the Arts' residency benefit from the networks they make while working within a wider community of artists.

For a period of between three to six months, artists stay in a large, open-plan work/live studio of approximately 960 square feet. Residency awards are open to all Australian-based artists. Applications and selection are dealt with directly by the Australia Council for the Arts.

For further information and application details:
Joe Pascoe (Senior Programme Director)
Romany Petersen (Administrator)
Australia Council for the Arts
P.O Box 788
Strawberry Hills
NSW 2012
Australia
T: 00 61 2 9215 9000
E: J.Pascoe@ozco.gov.au
www.ozco.gov.au

Awardees since 1999 (in chronological order):
Alun Leach-Jones, Sally Smart, Lyndell Phelps, Vivienne Binns, Richard Amor, John Dunkley-Smith, Robert Bridgewater, Colin Reaney, Martyn Jolly, Gregory Creek, Andrew Seward, Mathew Jones, Brigita Ozolins, Andrew Seward, Michael Doolan, Jonathan Dady, Luke Parker, Donna Marcus, Alison Munro, Kathy Termin, Ricky Swallow, Peta Clancy, Juliet Lea, Daniel von Sturmer, Ann Feran, Daniel Crooks, Sharon Goodwin.

Hessische Kulturstiftung, Germany

Acme Studios has managed a residency programme on behalf of Hessische Kulturstiftung since 1995, when Acme helped them purchase, renovate and furnish a terraced house in Lyal Road, Bow, E3.

The house was refurbished to offer visiting artists extensive living accommodation, with a studio on the ground floor.

Hessische Kulturstiftung residencies are awarded to artists for a period of 12 months. The size of the accommodation enables the artist to bring their family or dependants for the length of the residency.

Based in a highly residential area populated by many artists, the house is well situated for access to other arts spaces and central London and has provided a sound base for the residency programme and an investment for the future.

Residency awards are open to all artists from Germany. Applications and selection are dealt with directly by Hessische Kulturstiftung.

For further information and application details:
Claudia Scholtz
Hessische Kulturstiftung
Rheinstrabe 23-25
65185
Weisbaden
Germany
T: 0049 611 370 689
E: csholtz@hkst.de
www.hkst.de

Awardees since 1999 (in chronological order):
Thomas Klipper, Karsten Bott, Heather Allen, Laura Padgett, Stefan Gugerel, Thomas Roth, Andres Exnor, Petra Trenkel, Pia Linz.

IASPIS, Sweden

IASPIS and The Visual Arts Fund Konstnürsnamden have operated a residency programme for visual artists in London, managed by Acme Studios, since 1996.

The residency has moved to different locations over the years and currently, on behalf of IASPIS, Acme leases accommodation situated in Arbery Road, Bow, E3. Set within a converted school building, the accommodation comprises a large one-bedroom flat with studio space. IASPIS supports artists working with a wide variety of mediums: painting, sculpture, film, video, installation and performance. The length of the residency is usually one year.

Residency awards are open to all Swedish artists. Applications and selection are dealt with directly by The Visual Arts Fund in Sweden.

For further information and application details:
Lars Olof Gustafson
The Visual Arts Fund
Konstnarsnamden
Box 1610 Fredsgaten 12
S 11186 Stockholm Sweden
T: 0046 8402 3575
E: l.o.gustafson@konstnarsnamden.se
www.iaspis.com

Awardees since 1999 (in chronological order):
Celia Parsburg, Lars Arrhenius, Martin Müntzing, Peter Johannson, Rickard Sollman, Jan Hietala, Lotta Antonsson, Cecilia Lundquist, Tobias Anderson.

Aargauer Kuratorium, Switzerland

Following the success of the Landis & Gyr residency programme and an endorsement from the Swiss Embassy, Aargauer Kuratorium chose Acme to develop a London-based artists' residency. The programme began in 1999, with Aargauer Kuratorium renting a work/live space in Commercial Road through Acme.

In 2005, the residency moved to a work/live unit in the Gillender Street Fire Station in Poplar, E14, where it continues to run alongside Acme's own residency programme, providing work/live spaces for 11 UK-based artists.

Visiting artists taking up the Aargauer residency benefit from the networks they gain from working within a wider community of artists.

The unit is small and open plan, comprising approximately 550 square feet, with separate kitchen and shower room. The Fire Station is based in an industrial area of East London and exists in close proximity to the designated location for the 2012 Olympics.

Residencies are available, usually for a period of three months, to Swiss artists. Applications and selection are dealt with directly by Aargauer Kuratorium.

For further information and application details:
Juerg Morgenegg
Bahnhofstrasse 70
5001 Aarau
Switzerland
T: 062 835 23 10
E: Juerg.Morgenegg@ag.ch
www.ag.ch/kuratorium

Awardees since 1999 (in chronological order):
Charlotte Hug, Hans Koch, Zsigmond Toth, Franz Rueb, Ursina Rosch, Franz Rueb, André Meier, Andrea Müller, Regula Keller, Simone Lueling, Joke Lanz, Regula Stibi, Jürg Morenegg, Franziska Furter.

The Swiss Federal Office of Culture (BAK), Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Office of Culture, with the help of Acme, created a six month residency programme for designers at an apartment in Butlers Wharf in 2004.

Since then, they have continued to offer short-term residencies to Swiss designers in leased premises in East London. The current programme is based in Independent Place, Hackney, E8, in a converted Victorian toy factory. The accommodation comprises a two bedroom flat close to the Shacklewell Lane in the heart of Hackney.

Applications and selection are dealt with directly by The Swiss Federal Office of Culture.

For further information and application details:
Patrizia Crivelli
Swiss Federal Office of Culture Design Service
Hallwylstrasse 15
CH – 3003 BERN
Switzerland
T: 0041 31322 9277
E: patrizia.crivelli@bak.admin.ch
www.bak.admin.ch/bak

Awardees since 2003 (in chronological order):
Megi Zumstein, Simone Lueling, Gregory Gibert-Lodge.